Donald Trump wanted to join Parler under the name 'Person X' before app was shut down, claims CEO John Matze
President Donald Trump had reportedly wanted to join Parler under the name "Person X" before it was shut down, according to the app's CEO. John Matze apparently said in a court filing on Wednesday, January 13, that part of the reason Amazon Web Services (AWS) pulled the app was due to a desire to keep POTUS Trump off any big-name social media. Trump has now been impeached twice.
Matze allegedly said, "I believe AWS's Decision to terminate service to Parler was based, not on expressed concerns about Parler's compliance with the AWS Agreement, but in part on a desire to deny President Trump a platform on any large social-media service."
It alleged that "a representative assigned to me by AWS" who was a supporter of President-elect Joe Biden knew since October "that Trump was considering moving to Parler under the pseudonym 'Person X'." Matze added, "She questioned me frequently via text message, phone calls and emails about any knowledge of those plans."
Amazon has denied the claims that were made by Matze on why the app had been banned. While speaking to The Sun, an Amazon spokesperson said, "There is no merit to these claims. AWS provides technology and services to customers across the political spectrum, and we respect Parler’s right to determine for itself what content it will allow."
"However, it is clear that there is significant content on Parler that encourages and incites violence against others and that Parler is unable or unwilling to promptly identify and remove this content, which is a violation of our terms of service," the spokesperson continued.
They further said, "We made our concerns known to Parler over a number of weeks and during that time we saw a significant increase in this type of dangerous content, not a decrease, which led to our suspension of their services Sunday evening."
The reported comments from Trump on wanting to use the alias would have started months before he was banned from various social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat after he made statements inciting violence and riots at the Capitol building which left five dead.
Trump has been impeached in the House on a charge of "inciting insurrection" related to the Capitol riots. He had spoken at a rally prior to the riots and had told supporters in Washington DC to "fight like hell".
Parler had been given the boot from Apple and Google's app stores which means it is no longer being hosted anywhere. Matze said that the app had been taken off AWS over the knowledge that Trump wanted to use Parler. According to court filings, "By shutting Parler down entirely, AWS has necessarily shut down all of Parler's more than 15 million accounts and, through advertising, its sole source of revenue. My company is now a social network without a network."
We had earlier reported that while Washington was left shaken on January 6 after pro-Trump protesters breached the Capitol and became violent, Trump was not really concerned about the destruction or insurrection that was occurring but was more worried about how violent extremists seemed to appear "low class".
As a result of the violence, at least five people, including one police officer, lost their lives. 14 people were injured during the riots allegedly incited by Trump's speech regarding false claims about the 2020 election which saw him lose.